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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 4 Hansard (24 June) . . Page.. 918 ..

MR STANHOPE: Yes, you are prepared to support the milk industry because you drink Milo every night. That was the way in which the Minister commenced his answer to a question from Mr Hargreaves yesterday. The Minister's waffling and equivocating response just now on the strength of his arm in relation to the possible introduction into the ACT of milk after 1 July by those that are prepared to outstare this Government actually gives us as much or less comfort than the fact that we have learnt that the Minister drinks Milo. There are a number of really important principles here. If we go back and look at the way in which this Government has actually handled the implementation of competition policy in the ACT, there is enormous cause for concern.

Ms Carnell: I have to say that we did not handle the implementation; you guys did.

MR STANHOPE: The way in which the Government has been handling the implementation in the last three years. It is quite true, as the Chief Minister interjects, that they have not handled it. That is the problem; they have not handled it.

Debate interrupted.

MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Hird): Order! It being 5.00 pm, I propose the question:

That the Assembly do now adjourn.

Mr Humphries: I require the question to be put forthwith without debate.

Question resolved in the negative.

Debate resumed.

MR STANHOPE: The shining example of this - and this is what causes us so much concern in relation to this Government's attitude to the deregulation of the milk industry - is actually the example provided by the application of competition principles to the Belconnen pool proposal. In a way, the concern that we must feel about this Government's commitment to public benefit tests or actually meeting community service obligations goes back to the way in which the Belconnen pool issue was or was not handled by this Government, depending on the way you wish to look at it.

Ms Carnell: It has not been finished yet.

MR STANHOPE: It certainly has not been handled - that is the whole problem - and we can have no confidence that the Government will handle the deregulation of the milk industry in any better way.

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